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What Mike N. saw:
Category: 5
Result: Off the back
My legs felt dead during warm-up, so I knew the race would be tough.
From the start I clip in and start leading out the pack towards the
finish line. I see a photographer take a picture with me in the front
and a couple of riders single file behind me. I felt content to let
someone else go up in front, but no one wanted to.
When the gradual
climb started, a couple of riders went up front. Then a couple of
more riders went up front. This kept repeating until I found myself
dangling off the back and getting dropped before the "easy" climb. I
look back and there is no one in sight, I was probably first to get
dropped. But luckily several riders didn't get to the start line in
time and passes me so I sucked on their wheel to regroup with several
other riders.
There was one rider who worked with me the whole time
and we dropped one rider, passed a few, then caught up to another
rider during the second lap. Going up the wall had my quads cramping
a bit, so I tried to get every last milligram of gels that I had.
About 2 miles to finish, I hit a bump on a chicane and my left calf
cramps so bad that I had to take it out and pedal with only my right
foot during the straight besides the barracks. Overall, a
disappointing race for me because I got dropped in a nutshell. And I
still can't find that pic of me in the front.
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